The Man from Earth (2007)

The Man from Earth: Directed by Richard Schenkman. With David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Ellen Crawford. An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.

“If not the u0026quot;bestu0026quot; science-fiction film ever made, Jerome Bixbyu0026#39;s Man From Earth is certainly one of the most thoughtful. This movie reminds me of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Not with spaceships and effects, but with intelligent characters and exceptional dialogue, and that it left me with a sense of true wonder and joy, long after the credits ended. If the movie had been two hours longer I still would not have been bored, even though most of the film takes place in one small room. Itu0026#39;s like watching a ninety minute Twilight Zone, with a perfect surprise ending. John Billingsly stands out, as does David Lee Smith, who may or may not be a caveman. The rest of the cast is good, but the script is the true star. And to anyone claiming this film is boring because we never leave the one room; Some of the very best Twilight Zones were just that. Good actors, good scripts, one or two locations. To anyone whou0026#39;s fed up with spaceships and explosions and Jar-Jar Binks, see this movie as a reminder of what science fiction has always been about.”